Client: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Location: New York, NY, United States
Completion date: 2021
Project Team
Artist
Kim Dickey
Kim Dickey Studio
Fabricator
Lynette Case
Kim Dickey Studio
Fabricator
Lauren Mayer
Kim Dickey Studio
Fabricator
Logan Reynolds
Kim Dickey Studio
Fabricator
Juno Works
Fabricator
Greyscape Studios
Fabricator
Matchless Builds
Fabricator
DuChateau Enlargements
Project Lead
Melissa Dallal
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Executive Director of Design
Suzen Heeley
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Senior Project Manager
Lisa Wang
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Chief Architect
Richie Choy
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Project Manager, Wayfinding + Signage
Elizabeth Stoltenberg
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Director, Design + Construction
Roger McClean
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Project Manager
Erik Bronstein
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Video Specialist
Don Bruce
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Senior Project Manager, Marketing + Communications
Matt Barone
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Manager, Information Technology
Sam Palmucci
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Landscape Architect
RGR Landscape
Contractor
Lend Lease
Lighting Consultant
HLB Lighting
Consulting Architect
Perkins Eastman
Master Riggers
JC Duggan
Trucking
Stevens West
Contractor
Turner Construction
Consulting Architect
Ennead
Consulting Engineer
Thornton Tomasetti
Art Curator
Cade Tompkins Projects
Kim Dickey Gallery
Robischon
Overview
Overlooking the East River in New York City, this installation features five large scale sculptures by Colorado-based artist Kim Dickey. Included are two of Dickey’s signature terracotta-clad aluminum sculptures, "Half Arch" and "Inverted L Beam," and three concrete animals: a seated lion, "The Guardian (Patience)," a dog, "The Girlfriend (Fidelity)" and a squirrel, "The Collector (Memory)." The foliated sculptures blend animal and architecture in dialogue with the natural forms of the garden. The architectural forms of "Half Arch" and "Inverted L Beam" bookend the terrace, framing the views beyond. The sculptures, clad with thousands of green ceramic quatrefoils, reinterpret at a larger scale the Rococo decorative art tradition of bocage, objects encased by clustered, miniature flowers. The concrete foliated seated lion, dog and squirrel animate the stage of this garden space as part of the landscape independent from ornamental architectural traditions. For Dickey, these particular animals hold associations with attributes that help sustain us, such as courage, memory, loyalty and friendship.Goals
In keeping with the new center's collection of over 1,250 art works themed around celebrating New York, Dickey drew upon architectural and art historical references throughout NYC - from Robert Morris plinth sculptures from the 1960s on view at the Whitney Museum to the iconic guardians of the New York Public Library, "Patience" and "Fortitude," and to the ornamental capitals and facades found on buildings across the boroughs - connecting this building’s site and its visitors to points beyond it. In making these works for MSK, Dickey hoped that they "offer a source of healing and hope in the way only art can."
Process
This project involved a vast collaborative team to see it through from planning to production to install. Kim Dickey worked with multiple fabricators and her own studio team. MSK coordinated between Kim and the David H. Koch Center's consulting architects, landscape designers, engineers, lighting consultants, contractors and riggers to plan and install the works, culminating in a complex operation to get the sculptures transported from Colorado to New York and hoisted up the side of the building and placed via rigs on the terrace.
Additional Information
The David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering is New York’s largest freestanding cancer center located on 74th Street and the East River. The building opened to the public in 2020 and offers outpatient cancer care across multiple specialties.